


Alone in the Forest, Just the Two of Us

by Lord_Byron_Mudkippington



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Arguing, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29786199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington/pseuds/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington
Summary: Artemis loves the solitude of the hunt, but not every goddess understands boundaries. Aphrodite is one of those goddesses.
Relationships: Artemis & Aphrodite (Hades)
Kudos: 18





	Alone in the Forest, Just the Two of Us

Artemis enjoyed the forests of Gaia. She loved finding the quietest ones, untainted by the ambitions of men. It was there where the animals roamed free, unafraid of what awaited for them. She would descend there, bow of Lipara in hand and a quiver of arrows slung across her back. There was no need for her chariot there, nor her hunting hounds. She enjoyed the companionship of silence, her ears attuned to the gentle breeze brushing across the leaves, the quiet crunch as a rabbit or deer walked across the ground. Away from the frivolity and loudness of her home of Olympus, she was in her element, at her most comfortable.

Which was why she felt more than a mere twinge of annoyance that she was being followed.

Aphrodite and herself were related, in a way. They both came from Uranus' lineage, and from a technical standpoint, that made Aphrodite her great-aunt. However, the two of them couldn't be more different. Aphrodite was everything that embodied the worst crimes of Olympus: she was beautiful, and she reveled in her beauty. She would consort with gods and mortals alike, while Artemis remained steadfastly chaste. Her partaking in the biggest vices of men did not sit right with Artemis, but she had always chosen to ignore it. Now she found it hard to, as Aphrodite had decided that she would invite herself on one of Artemis' hunts.

"The forest is quite beautiful," Aphrodite remarked, stating the obvious. "It's a shame you keep yourself hidden in here, under all these branches. The sun can barely shine on you here, and your skin is so pale. You look as if you are a follower of Demeter." She laughed at her own joke, while Artemis did her best to shut out her babbling. "You know, hunting  _ is  _ a kind of violence, and don't you believe that violence is beneath us? Let the mortals bicker amongst themselves, take the lives we so graciously gave them. There are plenty of things to take your attention in Olympus."

"Your talking is going to scare away my prey." Her voice was as even as it could be, but some amount of annoyance dripped into it, enough to actually shut Aphrodite up. It would likely be but a brief reprieve, but she would enjoy it while it lasted. Moving silently through the forest, she was surprised at how quiet Aphrodite could actually be. She was silent enough that at one point, Artemis looked over her shoulder to see if she was still there. Of course, she was, an easy smile on her face as she waved. Gritting her teeth, Artemis turned back around and kept an eye out for prey.

It wasn't long before she found something: a large, beautiful buck, ten meters ahead of them. It stood in a patch of sunlight, the trees having opened up just enough to let that much light in. Holding a hand up to stop Aphrodite, she pulled an arrow out of her quiver. She could feel the thrill of the bowstring resting comfortably in the nock, and she pulled it back, the string going taut. One eye closed, the other open to let her aim. Once she found everything to her liking, she released and let the arrow fly. It scarred the air, shooting too fast for any animal to get out of the way. The shot was perfect, and the buck went down hard, dead before it hit the ground.

"Nice shot," Aphrodite remarked, whistling appreciatively. Artemis ignored her, heading for the fallen buck. She dropped down to her knees, gently running a hand across its side. Then she put her bow on her back and lifted up the buck. "Wow, what in the world are you doing with that?" Aphrodite watched her with wide eyes, utterly baffled by what Artemis was doing with her kill. She didn't answer, which honestly, Aphrodite should have expected. Instead, she began to walk through the forest with it, the weight meaningless to her. Curiosity drew Aphrodite to follow her, having to know just what was going on. She would find out soon enough.

"Oh..." That was all Aphrodite could say, which was a first. Usually she had a lot to say, but even she remained respectfully silent when the two of them came upon a stone marker. Like when they had seen the buck, the sun had broken through the trees and was shining down on the marker. There was an overgrowth of foliage around them, yet the area immediately surrounding the marker remained perfectly trim. She suddenly felt uncomfortable being there, knowing how much this place meant to Artemis and Artemis alone. It was the grave of Orion.

"You and Apollo are the only ones who have visited this grave besides me," Artemis remarked, gently laying the buck down in front of the grave. Her voice was calm, but Aphrodite could sense an emotion she was unfamiliar with when it came to Artemis: heartache. The virgin goddess's one true love, whom the earth she so loved callously stole from her. Aphrodite did not grow attached to her lovers, so she could not understand Artemis' pull towards this one specific man: a mortal, no less. However, she knew better than to speak in that moment. It was best to let the silence overtake them, and to give the huntress her moment to grieve in her own way.

After a few minutes, Artemis stood back up, putting her bow back in her hands and leaving the offering at the grave. Aphrodite stared at it for a moment longer, then hastened to follow after the huntress. For the rest of the hunt, things were surprisingly silent. Having stood there in a moment she didn’t truly understand, Aphrodite stayed in silent contemplation behind Artemis as she took down several beasts of the woods. All of her shots were clean, and the animals surely didn't suffer as the life was taken from them. Still, Aphrodite wasn't sure she liked watching them lying on the ground, so cold and still. Warmth was what she craved after each beast she saw laid to rest.

"Let us head for my spring," Artemis spoke suddenly, not even turning to look at Aphrodite before walking deeper into the forest. That was a surprise; Artemis' sacred spring was only for the goddess and her handmaidens. None of the other gods had been invited there as far as she knew. A smile played on her lips as she hurried after Artemis, not wanting to let the opportunity go to waste.

Soon the forest opened up, and a mountain jutted up from the earth. It went beyond the trees, giving cover to the sacred spring they had come upon. The mountain housed a waterfall, the liquid cascading down into the spring below. It was all so pristine and beautiful. Aphrodite was in awe. The forest had been fine, but the ground was so dirty and the sun just didn’t shine well in there. Here, the beauty was undeniable; she couldn’t believe Artemis had been hiding this place from her.

Standing by the spring, Artemis began to undress. She shrugged off her quiver and set it down along with her bow. Then she removed her tunic, laying it across her weapon. Her boots, as light as the air, came next, and finally her huntress regalia was removed from her person. All that time, Aphrodite watched her with an unhidden smile on her face. Of course, as she walked around completely naked, with just her long, flowing hair to cover the most coveted parts of her body, she had come ready for just this kind of scenario.

She kept standing there to watch Artemis enter the spring. Her body truly was gorgeous. No wonder some mortal men had attempted to woo her, and done some other things that got them killed. Literally murdered. She could have watched Artemis descend into the water all day, but thought better of it and decided to get to joining her.

“Ahh, this feels divine,” Aphrodite sighed, sinking into the water and immediately feeling the grime of the outdoors wash off her. A slight breeze blew through her hair, and she sighed pleasantly. “You’ve been holding out on me, Artemis. How come you’ve never invited me here before?”

“If you wish to become one of my handmaidens, I will consider it.” Artemis laid her head back on the earth, closing her eyes and letting the pure waters refuel her. Any time she wanted to get away from the stress of dealing with her insufferable relatives, she would find comfort in the springs. She was in there quite a lot. “I would prefer that our entire family does not clog up my spring with their… boisterous presence.” That was the nicest way she could put it.

“They’re not so bad. Your dad and uncle sure know how to have a good time. Not to mention your half-brother. If there’s any god that makes me swoon, it’s Ares.” Artemis let out an audible groan, not wanting to hear about the sexual escapades of her partying, war-mongering brethren. Especially if it had to do with Aphrodite and Ares, the worst kept secret in all of Olympus. “Hey, don’t you groan at me. Can I not talk about my day here with you, Artie?”

“First, do  _ not  _ call me Artie. Second, I would prefer not to hear what you and Ares get up to. No one needs to hear that.” Being chaste around their debauchery constantly exercised her patience. Her only relatives that she could hold a decent conversation with were Athena and Demeter, but even that wasn’t worth suffering her other relatives. “Our definitions of ‘bad’ are quite different.”

“Well, you don’t spend a lot of time with us, so you don’t know what we’re all like.” Artemis turned towards Aphrodite, surprised at how heavy her tone was. She wasn’t smiling either, which was a rarity. “Whenever you come up to Olympus, you’re always looking for the moment you can leave. Honestly, you spend more time talking to Zagreus, and you can’t even hear him.”

“Sometimes those who are silent make the best companions,” she shot back, displeased with the tone Aphrodite was giving her. Of all the immortals, she was the one Artemis least wanted to hear from when it came to dealing with family. The way Aphrodite carried on was something Artemis never wanted her followers to dabble in. “I do not belong up there with the rest of you. It is not my place to be. This is. The forests, the springs, the temples mortals create for me in these areas. That is where I belong.”

“No, you belong with  _ us _ , your family. You don’t realize how good you have it. What if you were like Zagreus, cut off from all of us because of his stubborn father?” The two goddesses glared at each other, the tension seemingly making the water around them warmer. A mere mortal would have been forced to their knees just by that alone. “At least you have your immediate family. I was born in the waves, of Uranus’ seed. My brothers and sisters were the Titans, and they were cut up and tossed into the bowels of Tartarus. Your father, your brother, your uncles and aunts: that’s what I have left. We’re not perfect. Humanity was made in our image, were they not? But we’re a family, dammit, and you’re all I have left. So don’t act like you would be better off without us, because you would  _ not! _ ”

It was an outburst that Artemis could not have expected. It was so uncharacteristic of Aphrodite that it actually stunned her into silence. She looked away, letting her chin sink beneath the water. She was lost in thought now, watching the water ripple, then the shattering of the calm as Aphrodite got out of the water. This wasn’t right. She couldn’t let Aphrodite leave with the way things were, hanging in the air over her spring like a plague.

“Wait.” She turned around, resting her arms on the edge of the spring and looking up at Aphrodite. Her eyes were wilder than her hair, but they weren’t angry: they were hurt. “Aphrodite, you know that I have never belonged up there with you all. We’re very different gods. My place is here, where I can hunt in peace and shine the moon’s light through the darkness.”

“We don’t all get along, Artemis. You’ve heard exactly how things are between us and Hades, and what it’s done to his son. I don’t want that to happen to any one of us.” She got down onto the ground until she was lying on her stomach, placing a hand on Artemis’ arm. “We don’t all have to get along, and you don’t have to spend every second up there on Olympus. Most of us don’t, especially  _ certain  _ gods.” That made Artemis chuckle lightly, knowing exactly who she was referring to. “Just come home sometimes, okay? I promise we’re not all bad. Just… misguided sometimes.”

“I… suppose you’re right.” Perhaps she had been too harsh on her relatives. They could be way too much to handle sometimes, but weren’t they all? That didn’t mean she had to hate them, or go out of her way to avoid them. There could be a balance. A slight smile played on her lips as she stepped out of the spring, water dripping down her body. “Perhaps I should return to Olympus tonight, just for old time’s sake. Will you accompany me?”

“You don’t have to ask twice.” Smiling brightly, Aphrodite stood and waited for Artemis to get ready. A small child suddenly appeared from behind the waterfall, handing a towel to both goddesses. While Artemis was drying off, Aphrodite was left to wonder where in the world that child had come from. Eventually she just had to give up on that mystery and get dry herself. She watched Artemis get dressed again, putting her bow and quiver over her shoulder. “Ready to go?”

“Mhm.” Arm and arm, with matching smiles, the two goddesses returned to Olympus. Artemis’ family awaited, and she wasn’t sure just how ready she was to deal with them, but as long as Aphrodite stayed by her side, it would be okay. Probably.


End file.
